The long-rumored Google Play Newsstand for Android has finally launched, and it's not at all what we were expecting. Early reporting and investigation pinned it as a newspaper section of the Play Store, but it's much more than that. Google is selling newspapers and magazines under a single banner, and there's a visual-heavy RSS reader, sort of like Flipboard. This means Newsstand is replacing two of Google's existing apps: Google Play Magazines and Google Currents. Google is pitching Newsstand as "all your subscriptions in one place."

Like most things "Google" these days, calling Newsstand an "app" isn't really the whole story. There's also a new section of the desktop Play Store, and some magazines and newspapers are even viewable in the browser. RSS is strictly confined to the app, though.

Just like the old Play Magazines, paid content is available as a subscription or on a per-issue basis, and 30-day trials are available for some premium content. RSS feeds, magazines, and newspaper can be downloaded for offline reading later, and there's also a bookmark function.

Aside from the Newspaper additions, there isn't much new functionality or content here. It's mostly just a combination of several of Google's offerings into a single "news" section. Those used to apps like Flipboard will feel right at home and may even enjoy the combination of premium and free content, but anyone who feels Flipboard-style apps are visually cluttered messes that can't replace a real RSS reader will find little here to like.

I could start using this, but I do not have confidence it will be around for any period of time. Google has made it clear that they will not support things that do not match their ever evolving vision.

I don't know how I am going to get this faith back, to be honest. I like Google products and services, but I do not want to get invested in a tool that they are going to axe six months from now because they've decided it does not match their next big thing goals.

If he didn't say it, I would have. Flipboard-style "RSS" tools are completely the opposite of what most RSS users want, and if this is Google's Reader replacement, they've done nothing to appease that segment of the population, myself included.

Because they speaking of the company in a context different than the speaker normally finds it.

Apologies for continuing my grammar tangent – but it seems like the usual context; to wit, their products and services. I was wondering whether there was an ironic intent that I was missing, but I can't figure out what that might be.

Back on topic: Play Newsstand has an aesthetic that seems visually consistent with Google+, the Glass UI, and the general direction of their recent interface design. I appreciate the gradual convergence towards unity in their interfaces. It certainly is less minimalist than the Google of old, which I think can be traced back to the "cascading cards" information design of other companies such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Mashable.

Not falling for it this time. One Google Reader fiasco was enough. Or, in the words of G.W. Bush, "Fool me once, can't get fooled again".

Well, I don't actually have an Android phone, but if I did I wouldn't fall for this. In fact, Gmail (and Youtube I guess) are the only two Google products that I still use regularly and even that purely because changing the email address is a hassle.

If he didn't say it, I would have. Flipboard-style "RSS" tools are completely the opposite of what most RSS users want,

You have some stats to back that up?

Flipboard-style RSS/news readers have a larger area per article. I personally want an RSS reader to make it easy to consume large numbers of articles from different sources (e.g. Ars, BBC, XKCD, slashdot). This means at a minimum have a list of headers > expand summary > view article style navigation.

Other organisational features would be useful like tagging sources (news, tech, comic, ...) and articles (either from the RSS data and/or by keyword scanning the summary) would be useful.

For comics (e.g. Dilbert or XKCD) it would be useful to locate and view the comic images in an easy to flip through format; i.e. a full-screen presentation mode of the image with forward/back moving between the images/entries.

For podcasts or video playlists (e.g. YouTube user uploads), it would be useful to have the UI work like a media player with the playlist constructed from the RSS feed. This would include remembering where you had previously stopped.

If he didn't say it, I would have. Flipboard-style "RSS" tools are completely the opposite of what most RSS users want,

You have some stats to back that up?

I would argue people using Flipboard and the like are not "using RSS." People who use RSS don't want curated content, they want headlines and they look through what they want to read. Hence the huge uproar when Google Reader shut down.

90% of Reader users went to Feedly, which, surprise surprise is functionally identical to Reader, and far different than something like Google Currents or Flipboard, which show you photos randomly (or algorithmically) selected from your subscribed feeds. In other words, the majority of people who "use RSS" like to find their own articles to read, not have it selected for them.

If he didn't say it, I would have. Flipboard-style "RSS" tools are completely the opposite of what most RSS users want,

You have some stats to back that up?

I would argue people using Flipboard and the like are not "using RSS." People who use RSS don't want curated content, they want headlines and they look through what they want to read. Hence the huge uproar when Google Reader shut down.

90% of Reader users went to Feedly, which, surprise surprise is functionally identical to Reader, and far different than something like Google Currents or Flipboard, which show you photos randomly (or algorithmically) selected from your subscribed feeds. In other words, the majority of people who "use RSS" like to find their own articles to read, not have it selected for them.

tl;dr: we just want a list of headlines.

And I basically agree with albeec13. I don't want a bunch of pictures, in some order I can't really decipher; I just want a list of my feeds.

There seems to be a pretty significant divide between the two stances, and probably have something to do with information processing habits or something.

I just grabbed it. The first thing I noticed is that the colors are awful. The blue boxes with white text look like things that are highlighted for a cut/paste. Secondly, while apps like Flipbook let you start out with only a few selections and add/remove things with ease, Google is trying to guess what you are interested in. Most of the feeds I see at install, I have no use for or interest in. I have already added a few things, but the process is less than elegant. I liked Currents and I occasionally use Flipbook. This will most likely be sent to a folder someplace in favor of Flipbook now that Currents isn't an option. It's not terrible, but it's not intuitive or attractive in the first 5 minutes of use.

I don't want a bunch of pictures, in some order I can't really decipher; I just want a list of my feeds.

Luckily there are services that provide what you want. I don't think this is intended to compete with that, but is intended to appeal to non-RSS users who may stumble upon the app looking for their favorite magazine (or some other reason) and see the "my news" or "explore" feature and say, "hey, this is pretty cool to flip through" (like a magazine).

If he didn't say it, I would have. Flipboard-style "RSS" tools are completely the opposite of what most RSS users want,

You have some stats to back that up?

Flipboard-style RSS/news readers have a larger area per article. I personally want an RSS reader to make it easy to consume large numbers of articles from different sources (e.g. Ars, BBC, XKCD, slashdot). This means at a minimum have a list of headers > expand summary > view article style navigation.

Other organisational features would be useful like tagging sources (news, tech, comic, ...) and articles (either from the RSS data and/or by keyword scanning the summary) would be useful.

For comics (e.g. Dilbert or XKCD) it would be useful to locate and view the comic images in an easy to flip through format; i.e. a full-screen presentation mode of the image with forward/back moving between the images/entries.

For podcasts or video playlists (e.g. YouTube user uploads), it would be useful to have the UI work like a media player with the playlist constructed from the RSS feed. This would include remembering where you had previously stopped.

I have to say that after playing with the app for a few minutes, I do like the way it handles some of the news feeds with the tabs across the top for different content sections and media types. They may be onto something with that.

How does this new app affect the battery? Currents used to suck the life out of it on my Nexus 7 before I disabled it.

I disabled Currents a long time ago, partly due to both battery and data usage, not to mention that it sucked for my purposes. After a quick glance, I didn't wait to find out how Newsstand would suck on that front - already disabled it. I had to let it revert to the prior version, but was then able to disable it. At least, I think it's disabled - the OS claims that it is, but there's no telling what they're building in there.

90% of Reader users went to Feedly, which, surprise surprise is functionally identical to Reader, and far different than something like Google Currents or Flipboard, which show you photos randomly (or algorithmically) selected from your subscribed feeds. In other words, the majority of people who "use RSS" like to find their own articles to read, not have it selected for them.

Currents was actually structured like a traditional RSS reader, but the UI was not intended to be used as such, but rather like Flipboard, which I found infuriating. Using the back button took you to the previous story, and navigating up required a combination of tapping the bar at the top, a menu at the bottom, and finally swiping from the left edge of the screen to get your list of sources.

I think Pulse is a good development on the traditional type of RSS reader. Flipboard always struck me as a one trick pony that relied on the visual aesthetic. Newsjunkies don't want to be led by an algorithm, especially if it doesn't adapt to their preferences.

I could start using this, but I do not have confidence it will be around for any period of time. Google has made it clear that they will not support things that do not match their ever evolving vision.

Given that they're making money out of it, presumably this will stick around (at least the Magazines part - and integrating Currents into it probably ensures the news delivery also sticks around). At least they better do -- I just spent $7.47 extra out of subscription on one of my magazines because I forgot to renew and wanted to catch up on back issues!

To think about it, that's probably what they had in mind when nixing Reader (R.I.P.).

Google can't even get Email and Email to coexist in the same app, so now they have to pile RSS in with magazines? I don't get it, I don't get all the projects Google has been on a tear to kill lately, I don't get their whole retreat from anything that's interoperable across different OSes. Maybe Ballmer's been moonlighting there, and is only leaving MS to screw up Google full-time.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my beloved InoReader, whose desktop, mobile site and Android apps seem to improve on a regular basis. It's replaced the deprecated Opera browser RSS feed feature I used to use in 12.14.

I received Newsstand on my tablet today. The tablet shipped with Currents, so of course it can't be uninstalled and for some reason this version of 4.1.1 doesn't have the disable button for each app like my phone does. So for now, I have both Newsstand AND Currents sucking down data and no way to control Currents that I know of. I tried it, it was OK but I still prefer RSS. Same with Newsstand.

If anything, Newsstand is worse because each tab has magazines galore (for a cost) right at the top-center eyeline. Google doesn't want us to enjoy reading more, they want us to buy more.

I received Newsstand on my tablet today. The tablet shipped with Currents, so of course it can't be uninstalled and for some reason this version of 4.1.1 doesn't have the disable button for each app like my phone does. So for now, I have both Newsstand AND Currents sucking down data and no way to control Currents that I know of. I tried it, it was OK but I still prefer RSS. Same with Newsstand. .

In your sync settings you can stop Currents from syncing. If you use an alternate launcher (like Nova) you can hide the icon, and if you root your phone Titanium Backup will let you freeze it so it's completely inactive

I could start using this, but I do not have confidence it will be around for any period of time. Google has made it clear that they will not support things that do not match their ever evolving vision.

I don't know how I am going to get this faith back, to be honest. I like Google products and services, but I do not want to get invested in a tool that they are going to axe six months from now because they've decided it does not match their next big thing goals.

You mean after 8 years, they might shut it down? Is there cloud service that you actually have faith that it will still be here in 8 years? I know I don't. Not from Google, and not from any company.

From a usage point of view it seems like Google Books and Google Magazines are closer in practice than an RSS feed. If they were going to merge something it should have been those two apps.

When I get a magazine I usually read it from cover to cover (approximately), similarly to how I read a book. With an RSS feed I usually end up wanting to visit the site to view or participate in the comment sections which don't appear to show up in Google Currents or this Newsstand app.

I received Newsstand on my tablet today. The tablet shipped with Currents, so of course it can't be uninstalled and for some reason this version of 4.1.1 doesn't have the disable button for each app like my phone does. So for now, I have both Newsstand AND Currents sucking down data and no way to control Currents that I know of. I tried it, it was OK but I still prefer RSS. Same with Newsstand. .

In your sync settings you can stop Currents from syncing. If you use an alternate launcher (like Nova) you can hide the icon, and if you root your phone Titanium Backup will let you freeze it so it's completely inactive

D'oh! I completely forgot about sync settings. Took me a second to find but it's off now. Many thanks to ye!

Ron Amadeo / Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work.